John l



(No Model.)

J. L. BLACK.

BLEGTRIG SWITCH.

Patented Oct. 22 1895.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. BLACK, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE ST. LOUIS ELECTRIC BRAKE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,601, dated October 22, 1895.

Application filed April 13, 1895. Serial No. 545,668. (No model.)

f0 MZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN L. BLACK, of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric Switches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved device for electrically operating railway-switches; and my object is to provide such a device which will be powerful as well as quickinits action.

My invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Figure I is a top or plan view illustrative of my invention. Fig. II is a section taken on line II II, Fig. I, showing the operating mechanism in side View. Fig. III is an enlarged section taken on line III III, Fig. I. Fig. IV is a section on a still larger scale and showin g one of the sectional poles.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a switch-bar, which is connected to the switchrail 2 in the usual manner. The other end of the bar is connected to a crank 3 on a shaft 4, provided with a pinion 5, that engages a rack 6 on a rod 7.

8 represents a pair of magnets suitably supported and provided with heads 9, within which are coiled springs 10, as shown in Fig. III.

11 represents stationary fixed cores located within the magnets and extending about halfway of the length of the magnets from the ends farthest from the heads 9. The movable cores are made in sections 12, 13, 14, and 15. I have shown four of these sections, but there may be two or more. The section 12 of each magnet is secured to the end of the rod 7, as shown in Fig. IV. The section 13 is connected to the section 12 by means of bolts 16, the heads of which fit in openings 17 in the section 13. The section 14 is connected to the section 13 in like manner, though I have shown but a single bolt, and the section 15 is connected to the section 14 by the same method, and if other sections are to be used they are connected in the same way; but the bolt 16, connecting an additional section to the innermostsection shown, is omitted. The

sections move freely on the bolts, so that they can close up together, as shown on the left of Fig. III, or open out, as shown on the right of Fig. III and in Fig. IV.

18 represents an ordinary rheostat by which the current is turned or directed into the magnets.

In operation the current being turned into one of the magnets, the section 15 will be drawn up against the fixed core 11 and become polarized by it. The section 14 is drawn against the section 15 and becomes practically part of the fixed core, and thus the sections are drawn successively together, and it will be understood that while the movement of each is but slight the amount of movement imparted to the rod 7 will be considerable, as the movement of'the rod 7 is equal to the space between all the sections. When the switch is to be moved in 'the other direction, the rheostat is thrown over to the other side, when the sections of the core in the magnet then in circuit will be closed up in the manner just described, while the sections of the other core will be opened out. The function of the springs 10 is to cushion the cores in their rearward movement.

A device thus constructed is compact and is very powerful, for the reason that the sections of the core are only a short distance apart and as they close up become of the same pole as the fixed core, and thus each extends the pole of the fixed core to the next section, so that while I have a sufficient amount of movement to operate a switch, I have at the same time Virtually the same power that I would have witha solid core only a short distance removed from the fixed core and which would not give sufficient movement to operate the switch.

WhileI have shown my invention applied to an ordinary railway-switch, it is evident that it may be applied to interlocking and other forms of switches, and it may also be applied to signals and other uses for which it is adapted.

I claim as my invention- 1. An electric device for operating switches comprising a pair of magnets having heads and arranged end to end, the fixed cores located within the magnets, the coiled springs located within the heads, the movable cores sections are secured loosely together by central and side bolts alternately; substantially as described.

3. An electric device for operatingswitches comprising a magnet having a head, a fixed core located within the magnet,a spring lo cated within the head, a movable core located between the fixed core and the spring, and the rod connected through the spring with the movable core; substantially as described.

JOHN L. BLACK.

In presence of A. 0. BROWN, N. FINLEY. 

